Biotech industry diversity examined

The biotechnology industry has made progress in increasing representation, especially in pre-revenue, smaller and private companies, however, diversity and inclusion programming is still in the nascent stages at most companies responding to a survey by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BIO published its first annual survey on the industry’s progress in its report, Measuring Diversity in the Biotech Industry: Building an Inclusive Workforce.

The report analyzes data from a survey of 100 BIO member companies and shows that responding companies reported that of their employees overall, 45 percent are female and 32 percent are people of color. Those numbers decrease at higher levels with 30 percent having female executives and 18 percent female board members. The representation of people of color is lower as well, with companies reporting that 15 percent of executives and 14 percent of board members are people of color.

The report builds on three years of work by BIO’s Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (WDDI), and provides a baseline for understanding representation of diversity and inclusion within BIO member companies. BIO plans to continue the annual survey to track industry progress and has developed resources to help biotech companies achieve their diversity and inclusion goals.

The full report can be downloaded here.